Wealth of the Islands (28 page)

“
I won
’
t!
”
Anita assured her.
“
I won
’
t even tell her until after the ceremony.
”

It was then that Helen saw Gregory. He looked straight at her and her stomach turned over within her.

“
I thought we had a contract?
”
he drawled over the top of his champagne glass.

“
But it
’
s finished,
”
she said. There was an annoying catch to her voice that she hoped he hadn
’
t noticed.

“
Has it?
”

“
Well, we—we brought up the gold,
”
she said.

He went on looking at her.
“
I see,
”
he said.
“
So it
’
s glory for the female crew after all, and the hard work for the men
!”

“
That isn
’
t fair! she protested.
“
I
’
ve worked as hard as anyone
!”

“
But you
’
re quite prepared to leave your equipment in a mess, the
Sweet Promise
abandoned halfway up a creek and in need of a coat of paint, and your week
’
s money only half earned!
”

She didn
’
t know what to say to that. She hadn
’
t thought about it at all. All she had known was that he wouldn
’
t need her any more.

“
You hired me as a diver,
”
she said mutinously,
“
not as a maintenance man
!”

“
I took you on to the strength of the expedition,
”
he replied smoothly.
“
And that means turning your
hand to anything,
anything at all,
Helen Hastings, until the expedition is finished. Is that clear?
”

She nodded meekly. It wasn
’
t nearly as easy to tell him that she was going as she had thought it would be
.

“
Besides,
”
Gregory added bitingly,
“
what
diver
would leave her equipment like that? Did you think I was going to put it away for you? What you want is a nanny, not a boss
!”

“
I
’
m sorry,
”
she muttered. This wasn
’
t going at all the way she had imagined.

He grunted.
“
I
’
ll expect you after lunch,
”
he said.
“
And you
’
d better come dressed for it! Those things don
’
t look very practical for our kind of work
!”

It was, however, a lunch to remember. Gregory made a clever and rather witty speech that had everyone howling with laughter, and the only person who felt at all left out was Helen. It was so unfair, she thought, for she had worked hard, and Anita hadn
’
t done a thing to earn her money, and yet he had nothing but praise for her sister-in-law, while her he didn
’
t even mention. She might just as well not have worked for him at all!

“
The gold,
”
he added amidst applause,
“
has been handed over to the Government. The wealth of the islands has been restored to them. We all of us will be starting out on new adventures, but the Melonga Islands, and the memories of our days here, will be a link between us for the rest of our days.
”

Helen could have wept. She didn
’
t want to remember. She wanted to forget! And she would forget, she promised herself, she would forget every moment she had spent there—

Then it was all over and everybody was busy chatting. She would have to go upstairs and change, she supposed, for
she
didn
’
t dare keep Gregory waiting. He was right in a way, she admitted to herself, for the equipment would have to be stowed away before she could consider her job really finished. What she couldn
’
t excuse was the public way he had pointed it out to her.

She found herself hurrying though as she went down the path, through the devastated village, and on to the empty harbour. From there, she could see the
Sweet Promise
towering over the creek where they had left her. She was well and truly grounded, listing terribly over the muddy bank that was helping to support her. Gregory must have been there that morning and removed most of the debris from her decks, but even so she looked a sad and sorry sight. Her white paint had blistered and rusted, her sails hung in to
rn
confusion, and a bewildering pile of abandoned diving equipment littered her foredecks in a manner that was anything but shipshape.

Helen swung herself on board and looked helplessly about her. It was hard to know
w
here
to begin. She tossed a few empty cylinders ashore, to make a little more room, and then set to with a will, washing everything that came within reach and stowing everything else away where it belonged.

She mu
s
t have been working for about an hour when Gregory arrived. He swung himself up on board and stood on the sloping deck, watching her work.

“
I
’
m afraid the sails have had it,
”
he said finally.

“
We might be able to patch them,
”
Helen suggested eagerly.

“
We
?”
he asked.

She blushed.
“
It was a manner of speaking,
”
she said abruptly.
“
What I mean is that I think it could be done!
”

“
I dare say,
”
he agreed, and smiled like a small boy.
“
But we
’
re in the money now. It
’
s the first time I
’
ve been able to afford to do something for the old
lad
y. I think she deserves new sails, don
’
t you?
”

She sat back on her heels and looked up at the tall masts and thought of the way she had come through the storm and brought them safely home to harbour.

“
Yes, she deserves everything you can give her,
”
she agreed sof
tl
y.

“
I
’
m glad you agree,
”
Gregory went on briskly.
“
Anita was in no state to do much about anything, so I put in an order for some paint myself. They
’
re flying it out on the next flight.
”

“
Oh?
”
Helen said cautiously.

“
Mmm. Having got her stuck in
the
creek, it makes a pretty good dry dock, doesn
’
t it? I thought I
’
d get her painted before we haul her back down into the harbour.
”

“
But you
’
ll never manage it alone!
”
Helen exclaimed.

“
There
’
s Na-Tinn and Taine-Mal,
”
he pointed out.

“
And have either of them ever painted a boat before
?”
she
demanded.

“
There has to be a first time!
”

Helen turned her back on him and went on tidying away the ropes that were strewn across the deck. Another moment and she would have offered to have stayed. She had no pride at all!

“
Shall I make some coffee?
”
she said, when the silence became unbearable.

“
I thought we
’
d run out,
”
he answered.

“
We have,
”
she admitted helplessly.
“
Oh well, it was just an idea!
”

She wished he would do anything, anything at all, but stand there, watching her every movement.

“
I
’
m not going to offer to stay!
”
she
burst out furiously at last.

“
What did you say?
”
he asked with friendly interest.

She turned and faced him.
“
You heard!
”
she said angrily.
“
Haven
’
t you anything to do?
”

“
I expect I could find something,
”
he agreed, grinning.
“
I was enjoying the view.
”

“
So I gather! Well, you made your point back at the hotel. I agree with you! I should have seen that everything was shipshape before I started to think about leaving. Not that you had to tell the whole hotel about it!
”
she added, for she was still smarting under his rebuke.
“
I would have come anyway. But then to sit there and watch me is just too much!
”

Gregory began to laugh.
“
I didn
’
t know you cared!
”
he teased her.

“
I don
’
t,
”
she snapped.
“
But surely there is
something
you can do besides check up on me?
”

“
Is that what I
’
m doing?
”
he said mildly.
“
How odd, I thought I was resting my leg, which incidentally is hurting quite a lot, and having an easy day after an appalling night that I want to forget all about, with children scared half to death, and me worrying myself about you!
”

Helen blinked.
“
You
’
ve made me feel a cad now,
”
she said.

“
I
’
m sorry,
”
he said.
“
I didn
’
t mean to do that. Shall I go up to the hotel and get some coffee?
”

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She waited until he had jumped down on to the bank below and then she called after him:
“
I
’
m coming too! Wait for me!
”

She was in such a hurry that she didn
’
t notice that she had left one of the lines across her path and, instead of jumping, she half fell, landing practically on top of Gregory below. He opened his arms wide to receive her, taking the full impact of her fall against his own body.

“
I—I
’
m sorry!
”
she gasped.

Gregory laughed.
“
My love, do you have to take everything so seriously? Didn
’
t you know that I
’
ve been waiting all day for you to fall into my arms?
”

Helen stiffened.
“
L—literally?
”
she stammered, before she had thought.

“
I
’
d have preferred a more voluntary means of propulsion,
”
he said with, humour, then let her go with a sigh.
“
We
’
re not making much progress, are we?
”
he added.

Helen forced a laugh.
“
I
don
’
t know. I
’
ve practically finished with the diving tackle
!”
she said brightly.

His hands came down on her shoulders, and they weren
’
t a bit gentle. Slowly, ruthlessly, he turned her round to face him.
“
In just a minute,
”
he said,
“I’
m going to kiss you. And then I
’
m going to kiss you again. And I
’
m going on kissing you until you admit that you like it—
”